Tuesday, February 25, 2014

As reviewers, we
never cease to marvel at the talent that is found on even the smallest of
Washington County’s stages. This was driven home to us Saturday night with Mask
& Mirror’s hilarious production of Sylvia. Director Gary Roman has drawn a group of
fine actors to “The Stage” at Tigard’s Calvin Church, and the opening night
audience clearly appreciated this great team effort.

Author A. R.
Gurney’s basic story is not terribly new or terribly complicated. A middle-aged
couple (Phyllis and Greg) with empty-nest syndrome work through their
respective mid-life crises – Kate by pursuing a lofty and rewarding career,
Greg by abandoning a corporate job that he finds increasingly meaningless,
instead seeking to get “back to nature.” Greg finds an abandoned dog (Sylvia)
in the park, and brings her home to their New York City apartment. Kate is not
amused – although not a dog-hater, she has been looking forward to a nice,
clean adult world for the post-mommy phase of her life. The story revolves
around Sylvia’s impact – first in tearing Greg and Kate apart, ultimately in
bringing them back together.

Sylvia -Amelia Morgan-Rothschild; Greg-Michael Allen

W. C. Fields
once warned fellow thespians never to share a stage with dogs or children
(scene-stealers all), and although Sylvia is played by a human (Amelia
Morgan-Rothschild), she poses the same threat. This relative newcomer to the Portland
area is one of the finest actresses we have seen in recent years – her
performance is agile, cute, brash, powerful, and mercurial, and she manages the
frequent transitions from almost human to utterly dog with aplomb.An added bonus is the few brief moments of a cappellawork
that give the audience a hint of her marvelous singing voice.

Luckily, the
rest of the cast members carry their own weight quite nicely. Michael Allen and
Phyllis Fort give solid performances as Greg and Kate. While Greg is clearly
enamored of his lively new companion, he makes it equally clear that he really
cares about Kate, despite her inability to accept his changing needs. Allen
creates a likeable guy who captures the audience’s sympathy for his plight – trapped
between two women, and wanting to keep both in his life. Fort has the greater
challenge, at least in a room full of dog-lovers. She can be, as Sylvia points
out, something of a bitch (ironic, eh?), and her relentless campaign to drive
Sylvia out of their lives wins her no brownie points. However, her finest
moment in the show is the one where she wins back the audience while
obsessively searching for Sylvia’s red ball. In this scene, she believably
reconnects with the maternal side that seemed to have vanished from her life.

The other
members of the tiny cast include Diana LoVerso, who shines in her tiny role as
Phyllis, Kate’s college friend - we hope to have the chance to see her do more.
Tom, a man in the dog park who philosophizes about the importance of spaying
Sylvia (but would never consider neutering his manly Bowser) is played by a
woman, G. Moshovsky, who brings a convincing machismo to her sexist role.
Continuing this gender-bending trend is B. Hare as Leslie, the marriage
counselor. While Hare is male, the character is deliberately ambiguous about
his/her gender, asking clients to assign gender based on their own
preconceptions. Hare’s few minutes on stage effectively summarize the play’s
broader themes about how gender roles can shift (with or without the services
of a good veterinarian!).

The humans’
costumes, while appropriate, are basically just clothes (although Leslie’s is
gaudily sexless).Sylvia, however, is
nothing short of spectacular in her various incarnations, from tattered street-dog
to post-grooming, prancing diva. The set is basic, but functional – a simple
living room, a bench, and the New York skyline, all surrounded by U-shaped
seating that brings the audience within a few feet of the action. The lighting
supports the show’s shifting moods, especially at the end (dog-lovers, bring
your hankies).

To honor Sylvia’s animal-loving themes, Mask
& Mirror has identified five animal welfare groups (Animal Aid, Fences for
Fido, Indigo Rescue, Oregon Dachshund Rescue, and Pacific Pug Rescue) as
beneficiaries. The theater will donate $1.00 for each attendee who mentions one
of these great non-profits when tickets are sold.

Sylvia runs through Sunday, March 16th at Calvin Church,
10445 SW Canterbury Lane, Tigard with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays
and 2:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Monday, February 17, 2014

“In the 20th century, no movement will be as
beautiful as the movement of the line across the paper, the note across the
staff, or the idea across the mind” – thus does bartender Freddy express the
central theme of H.A.R.T. Theatre’s current production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile. However, author Steve Martin (yes, that
Steve Martin) modestly omits from this triad of the 20th
century’s dominant cultural influences a fourth, equally powerful and
subversive force – the force of comedy.

Damien Siemer as Einstein and Seth Rue as Picasso

Director Peter Stein has a clear grasp of the importance of
humor in captivating and enlightening his audience, and he has assembled a
formidable cast to express his vision.

Paris, 1904. What if Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso had
turned up at the same Montmarte watering hole, the Lapin Agile? The answer (at least
in the hands of a comic/philosopher like Martin) is simple – lots of absurd
stuff that somehow manages to express a whole bunch of profundity. Want to know
more? Go see the play.

While the show is defined by the relationship of creativity
and genius at the dawn of a new century, it is anchored by the common man (and
woman) – Freddy the bartender (Dan Kroon), Germaine the waitress (Ilana
Watson), and Gaston the regular customer (Carl Coughlan).Kroon and Watson are citizen philosophers of
a type often found in depictions of working class Parisians – not overly
well-educated, but still willing to trade philosophical banter with their
esoteric clientele. Their timing and delivery do full justice to Martin’s witty
dialogue, and the characters they create are appealing and believable (given
the absurdist tone of the entire play). Coughlan’s portrayal of the
prostate-challenged, newly old Gaston is consistently funny – his mobile eyes
convey a wealth of commentary on the passing scene even when he is silent, and
his clear delivery ensures that we do not miss a thing.

Aaron Morrow, Jake Beaver, and Seth Rue

Portland newcomer Trinka is a delight in each of her three
roles as Suzanne (one of Picasso’s lovers), the Countess (a friend and
confidante of Einstein), and “the admirer.” She’s cute, slightly elfin, and
flexible enough to shift from spitfire lover tointellectual soulmate to uninhibited groupie with little more than the
switch of a wig.

D

amien Siemer shows admirable restraint and superb timing in
his depiction of a young Albert Einstein –he is by turns abstracted and
engaged, but he does not succumb to the urge to overplay his character’s
Teutonic genius. By contrast, Seth Rue’s Picasso is painted in broad strokes –
like the character he plays, Rue is an uninhibited extrovert whose energy mines
the role for its full comic potential.

Rounding out the cast are cynical art dealer Sagot (Patrick
Brassell) and his assistant, Andre (Greg Baysans), whose quirky
characterization adds a lot to the surreal ambience of the show. Aaron Morrow
(Charles Dabernow Shmendiman) and Jake Beaver (the Visitor) provide an
anachronistic contrast to the rest of the show’s characters. Shmendiman, the
egotistical and bombastic (but utterly clueless) inventor is an expression of
the author’s contempt for industrialism; Morrow gives the role a horrifyingly
comical Ugly American flair. Beaver’s Visitor captures the self-effacing
humility of an unnamed, mid-century rock star, along with his pompadour hairdo
and blue suede shoes. Where Shmendiman is in the wrong place at the right time,
the Visitor in the right place (with other cultural icons), but at the wrong
time.

The set and costumes are up to the H.A.R.T.’s usual high
standards – detailed, appropriate, attractive, and functional. The complex lighting
and special effects are equally impressive, and contribute a great deal to the
exposition of the show’s themes.

A minor, and easily addressable opening-night problem was
audibility – a few of the lines were lost because of a lack of vocal projection,
especially when there was music in the background. There are no throw-away
lines in the show, and the audience deserves to hear
every word.

Picasso at the Lapin
Agile is playing at Hillsboro’s H.A.R.T. Theatre, 185 SE Washington,
through March 2 with performances at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday, 2:00 on
Sunday.

Monday, February 3, 2014

The theme for Broadway Rose’s 23d season is “Brass ‘n’ Sass”
– and their current production of Band
Geeks is a perfect way to start the music. This captivating new show is
having its West Coast premiere at the New Stage in Tigard, and authors Tommy
Newman, Gordon Greenberg, Gary Alter, and Mark Allen must be thoroughly jazzed
about the quality of the production.

Band Geeks draws
upon themes familiar to anyone who ever had the misfortune of attending an
American high school – as Director Isaac Lamb says, “high school is proof that
God has a wicked sense of humor.” While the material is certainly accessible to
young people, the show’s appeal is by no means limited to this audience. We
each find our own geeky way through adolescence, be it marching band, yearbook,
drama, choir, debate, or 4H. The relationships we forge during these crucial
years not only help us to survive the slings and arrows of a popularity-based
social structure, they guide us toward the people we’ll become as adults.

The story is loaded with familiar elements – Elliott, the
chubby and awkward tuba player who falls for the beautiful baton twirler (Nicole);
Laura, the girl next door who is everybody’s buddy, but nobody’s prom date;
Jake, the angry jock; Natalia, the out-of-touch foreign exchange student;
Molly, the alienated Goth girl; Alvin, the cheerily snarky gay guy, and more.
The story is familiar – beefy football players bullying the band geeks, lots of
unrequited passion, underfunded arts programs saved at the last minute by
inclusion in regional competitions, the one cool teacher (Mr. Hornsby) who
understands and supports his crew of drifting hormones, Stewart, the pathetic
mama’s boy, and Ms. Dixon, the mama who made him that way.

All in all, it is a simplistic, formulaic show that somehow
kept the entire audience (including us) enthusiastic and engaged, with a
heartfelt and sincere standing ovation at the end. The songs are plentiful and
rarely memorable, but they serve the show well – as with all Broadway Rose
productions, the arrangements and vocal ensemble lend a concert-like air to the
evening. There are no weak performances, but a few of the players particularly
sparkle.Zach Cossman (Jake) does
“anger” convincingly – but it is through his prowess on the drums that he
really finds his rhythm. Ryan Andrews (Elliott) manages to remain loveable despite
the character’s nerdy neediness – he brings a naïve enthusiasm that tempers his
self-absorption. The biggest laugh of the evening (it literally stopped the
show) was a throwaway line delivered by David Swadis (Alvin), whose comic
timing and delivery are impeccable. From her first moment on stage, the
audience knows that Danielle Purdy (Laura) is the real star despite her
unassuming affect. She quietly hovers in the background, ensuring that things
go (relatively) well, until finally Elliott gives her the credit she deserves
by giving her the position of bandleader. Her marvelous voice easily sells her
solos, and provides an anchor for the ensemble numbers.

The two “adults” in the cast, Amy Jo Halliday (Ms. Dixon)
and Joe Thiessen (Mr. Hornsby) play very different roles in the production.
While Thiessen is given a meaty part with some real depth (and a great song,
“If I Had a Stage”), Halliday’s character is little more than a cartoon, and
her spectacular voice is wasted on her big number, the formulaic “For the
Greater Good.”

An unexpected high point comes at the curtain call, when the
real band geeks (the band, led by musical director Mont Chris Hubbard)
join the cast at the front of the stage. Their appearance played no small part
in motivating the opening night standing ovation.

While Band Geeks is
in many ways classic Broadway Rose fare, it is exciting to see this venerable
group tackling a completely new show (this is only its third professional
production). We saw lots of fresh faces on both sides of the curtain – seven of
twelve of the actors are new to Broadway Rose, and a lot of the audience looked
like they were new to the New Stage (and will be coming back for more!).

Band Geeks runs
through March 2 at the Broadway Rose New Stage, 12850 SW Grant Avenue, Tigard.